Beverage dispensing systems provide for the dispensing of a pre-selected beverage from a multiplicity of available beverages either through a bar gun, for example, or a beverage dispensing tower. It is important to dispense a cool or chilled beverage. It is especially important to maintain, to the extent reasonably possible, the soda water (carbonated water) at a cool or chilled temperature. The solubility of carbon dioxide in water is a function of temperature. The warmer the water, the less soluble the carbon dioxide.
One method of maintaining fluids to a beverage dispenser in a chilled or cool state is to run the fluids (syrup, water, and/or soda water) through a cold plate, which cold plate is typically located in the base of an ice chest. Typically, beneath a bar or adjacent to a bar will be one or more chests filled with ice. In the ice chests are the cold plates. The cold plates have multiple inlet ports and multiple outlet ports. The inlet ports receive syrup, water, and/or soda water from a multiplicity of sources. The fluids run through the cold plate and out the outlet ports. From the outlet ports, the fluids are carried typically to one or more manifold/bar guns or to the dispensing system. The cold plate outlet lines will carry the cooled fluid and are typically insulated. Typically, when a beverage is being dispensed, carbonated water will be carried through the cold plate and out the beverage dispenser in a chilled form.
However, if there is a sufficient period of time between dispensing actions, the fluid, including carbonated water in the lines upstream of the dispensing gun or dispensing nozzle and downstream from the cold plate, may warm up. In a subsequent dispensing, after a sustained period of time, this warm carbonated water or soda will tend to foam more than if it were cooler. Thus, it is preferable to maintain the fluids, especially the carbonated water (soda) that are chilled to a sub-ambient temperature to the extent possible.